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@Fullstacklive interview

Hello and welcome back to USB our Guest, Cyber Security tips. I’m Theo, here to help you break down cyber security news and hacks and how they affect you. However, today I am interviewing The MonoSpace Mentor, CEO and CTO of their own managed web hosting business. We recorded the interview in an open discord voice channel with video while monitoring chat with Text-to-speech developed by Security_Live. The MonoSpace mentor has a wealth of life experience that I will attempt to draw on. From early beginnings, growth and accomplishment, I am very excited to talk to him. Also, I send people I interview a list of questions to answer, and the MonoSpace Mentor did that, offering well thought and candid answers. Find the document linked on the episode page on my Github This is a little longer than my normal format so feel free to speed it up. Thank you for listening and enjoy.

What is behind you?

Who are you? Background - as much or little as you are comfortable with.

My name is Jochen, which is pronounced somewhat like "Johann" without the "a". I'm what people once called a computer freak, and I'm still excited about everything machines can do. My character is a constant fight between idealism and pragmatism, and I'm driven by learning challenges. - everyone is on a different path. - idealism and pragmatism - business based on open source - driven by should

Location

In the wake of a bunch of visits to Ireland, my wife and I decided in 2012 to move from Germany to Ireland, where I've lived for 10 years now, a bit south of Dublin. - Can you name a local food establishment and it's signature dish? or what is your specialty?

Age

I'm as old as Unix, which is why I recently got some "Unix 1970" T-shirts. - Great answer - what is a great parellel and difference that you see with IT over the years?

What is your education level (or lack of)?

I started programming in 1984, because when you switched on the VIC-20 I got for my birthday, it dropped you right into an interactive BASIC interpreter, and from there you go. I wanted that computer so much. I had been reading IT and programming books for months ahead of actually getting a computer. I even stole a computer magazine that I couldn't afford with my pocket money (and got caught). From the VIC-20, I went on to a Commodore 128, then the Amiga, and finally a fully kitted out 80386 PC. In high school, I learned Pascal and Forth. My coding skills were constantly improving because I read every book on software engineering our local library could offer. When I was 18, I developed a payroll accounting application to make my mum's job easier. It was pretty clear that I'd study computer science, but there also was a short period when I considered becoming a catholic priest. When, after high school, my mandatory military service ended unexpectedly early creating a gap of a few months before I could start college, my mum pulled some strings to get me a sort of internship at the local nuclear power plant. There, I developed a database application for managing engine maintenance cycles. My manager was so impressed that he gave me a bonus and offered me a freelance contract so I could continue my work into college. This sort of doing professional work on the side continued when I encountered Linux in 1993 and shortly after started a systems administration business. It didn't work out and in the end cost me a lot of money, and almost my degree as well. - pull up pics of these devices - VIC-20, Commodore 128, then the Amiga, and 80386 PC. - What did you do with books? line by line? reproduce code? your own project? - Priesthood? me too - Developing projects - systems admin business that didn't work out - what did you learn

Previous jobs

After getting my B.S. in computer science, my passion for Linux led me to work as a SuSE Certified Linux Trainer. I relished helping people understand all the complexities in system and network administration. At a Linux conference, I met a colleague from uni who was now the IT manager at one of Germany's leading ISPs. She told me that she was looking for a trainer who could teach her IT organization the basics of system administration, database management and kernel development. I jumped at the challenge, got myself another stack of books, and created a curriculum that I then taught over three months. When my work was finished, I had a meeting with the IT manager who hired me and someone from HR. They offered me the opportunity to start a new team at the company whose job it would be to run the company's user management service, billing system and ERP software. A new challenge! A few years later, the company was acquired by an even bigger internet service provider, and I got in charge of three teams running the core services for the whole IT organization such as databases, online payments, storage and backup systems. Eventually, I got a new manager, and things went downhill. In 2009, I was ** let go under dubious circumstances (that story will boggle your mind).** Realizing that there's no such thing as a "secure job", I decided to give entrepreneurship another shot. Given my rather bad track record with running my own businesses, this wasn't a decision we took lightly. And here I am, more than 13 years later, still running my managed web hosting business as its CEO and CTO. - networkimg - teaching - how did you work with those peoples skill levels -

How important are certs?

Certifications are proof that you have the ability and discipline to acquire knowledge, and the memory to retain it for a certain time. They have value, but that value tends to have a short half life. When I'm hiring, I'm looking for people who can turn what they've learned into practical results. If you can tell me the story of how you've set up your own Mastodon instance and how you solved all the problems on the way, that's worth more to me than any certificate. - Can you talk about projects more? - make your own website - use hosting service - vps - install webserver

How necessary is Networking? LinkedIn, Discord, in person?

I think that healthy organizations and teams are held together by trust. And trust is built on communication. Especially in a remote-only company like mine. You do the math. - conference , linkedin, face to face, - instead, Build relationships - be part of a community, github project, discord community

The importance of stepping out of your comfort zone.

I thrive when I'm challenged. My mantra is "Growth is what happens outside your comfort zone." I recently started my new side business as the Monospace Mentor because I want to get back into teaching; I want to share my decades of experience with beginners in this space. This will again require me to get outside my comfort zone in many ways. IT is ever-evolving because people keep pushing the envelope. If we don't want to be left behind, we need to keep moving. However, that doesn't mean that we have to chase every new hype and throw proven solutions out the window. - growth outside of comfort zone

What are your employers expectations in your current role?

I'm the employer, so here are my key expectations: - Learn continuously - Work self-guided towards a given goal - Focus on team success These key points can, in practice, result in many behaviours that we can dissect in the interview. - just because you start somewhere doesn't mean you need to stay in that role -

Hours

I try to maintain a work schedule of 8 hour weekdays. Since we're only a small team, I'm also on on-call duty which sometimes causes unusual work hours. But everyone in my company has full control of their schedule, so I can also sleep in, or finish the day early if it makes sense to me.

What is advice that you wish you knew when you started on your path, whatever it may be.

Do one thing at a time, and do it right. Be careful hiring friends - Can you explain this a little more

  • TimeZone? -
  • availability - weekdays ?? - Weekends ??
  • voice, tts, video, avatar, in video game?
  • Who are you? background - as much or little as you are comfortable with.
  • location
  • age
  • previous jobs
  • What is your education level (or lack of)
  • What have you taught yourself?
  • How important are certs?
  • How you did you land your job in cyber security to get in the industry?
  • How necessary is Networking? LinkedIn, Discord, in person?
  • The importance of stepping out of your comfort zone
  • What is your current role?
  • What are your employers expectations in your current role?
  • Hours
  • Working with others
  • What is advice that you wish you knew when you started on your path, whatever it may be.